In this unique and rare publication, Zipser (Royal Holloway U. of London, UK) provides, for the first time, a translation of two versions of the first edition of Therapeutics, a Greek medical handbook from the thirteenth century by John the Physician, who discusses medicine as a craft and describes new developments and innovations of Byzantine medicine, and common diseases and guidelines on how to prepare medication. She provides both the original version, in Byzantine Greek, and its translation into the vernacular, as well as English translations of them on facing pages. She also provides background on the history of the text, its development, and sources, historical context and the language, and provides some selected paragraphs of the commentary version of the text. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)